Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all. I got my beardie last month and bought a book that seemed very informative. Then I read these forums and realized that I didn't know as much as I thought. Anyway, I got rid of the Calci sand I had and got reptile bedding from a company called Kaytee. It's made from alfalfa. It seems to break down pretty easily cause he's kicked a few pellets into his water dish. My bd is NOT a dead eye and misses crickets pretty frequently and instead snatches up alfalfa pellets and chows on them. Any harm in this?

How old is your bearded? To me I have kept my bearded dragon on paper towel since 5 to 6 months then I switched to play sand with no ill affects.
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Go Big Or Go Home

Yeah, i waited until my dragons were 12inches before i moved them off of paper towels onto washed playsand.
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1.1.0 Bearded Dragons
Quebert & Isis
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Edited on January 29, 2005 at 09:45:32 by phwyvern.

Guess I should have included that info. As far as age, I can't be too sure since the shop owner was unclear as well. He's about 16 inches. I've seen several pet shops use this bedding. The pellets are about 1cm long and 2mm wide. Pretty small. My main concern is impactation(sp?) as well so that's why I'm asking. Thank you all for the prompt responses.

I am not sure what kind of bedding you are talking about, but I think I have an idea. How old is the dragon/how large? If it is under a year old I would suggest getting it on some paper towels (if you have a doubt in the bedding). Im not sure how digestible they are (they may be digestible, but in smaller/younger dragons even those "pellets" can cause possible impaction, especially if you say he does indeed grab some when eating crickets). I would personally switch to paper towels until about one year of age, then you can go with whatever safe substrate you choose (I use sifted playsand, $2.79 at Home Depot).

Better safe then sorry.

David - KDRKreatures

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David and Kevin

KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

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I agree, I would keep your beardie on paper towels for awhile, until he is close to a year old anyways. If you want to switch to alfalfa pellets then you can, the good thing about them is that alfalfa is in no way harmfull to your beardie (excpet of course if a baby eats too big of a piece ands gets impacted...)

Alfalfa bedding is used a lot for Torts, and the one draw back i have found when i used it for my tort was that it molds VERY quickly if it gets wet at all. If you are going to use this substrate you must be meticulous about your cleaning.
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